When Ricky Bradshaw's massive underground hit "Black Keys (Filtered Jazz Mix)" hit the streets in 1999, vinyl was still king among Househeads. Chicago's House scene was vibrant and ubiquitous. Karma, Mad Bar, and Red Dog were in full swing, and it was the year of the first 3 Degrees Wednesday party. It was a time when many of us believed that House Music would change the world.
Along with nearly every other house DJ on the planet, I bought Ricky Bradshaw's Jump Skip EP on Bad Boy Bill's label, Moody Recordings. The record was a fusion of the hot new jazz-infused funky House sound and filtered disco elements popularized by Daft Punk and Chicago's Afterhours Records imprint. But it was the song "Black Keys (Filtered Jazz Mix)" that embodied this sound and carried with it a timeless quality.
Later that year Mark Farina, who had already reached superstar status, selected "Black Keys" to be featured in his first House mix compilation for OM Records entitled San Francisco Sessions. The project was an instant classic making Mark Farina a household name.
The album's success also drew attention to the individual songs and their creators. After checking the books six years later, Ricky Bradshaw discovered that "Black Keys" had sold over a half million units.
If I didn't know better, I might be inclined to attribute a large part of this success to luck. However, I recently had the chance to interview Ricky Bradshaw, and I am here to tell you that his success is deserved, if not a birthright. Furthermore, he is poised to become a very real player in the music industry reaching beyond the confines of the House genre.
Ricky Bradshaw grew up on the West Side of Chicago, but his childhood was quite a bit different than most. His mom was and is a professional vocalist, and his uncle a major label producer. Instead of memories of family dinners and sitting around the television, Ricky describes late night jam sessions in his basement where Rufus and Chaka Khan were regulars.
Between sets, a six-year-old Ricky would jump on the drums and bang out the rhythms he had just heard. His ear for music impressed every one who witnessed him in action. During our interview Ricky recounted the story of his first live performance.
"I would watch the drummer. He looked like he was having the most fun to me. I learned the songs. So when they finished practicing they would have a meeting about what they were going to do next and the drummer would lower the seat for me. And I'd get up there and play the drums. A lot of times they would notice I was playing the set back so they would come back a jam a few songs with me to see which ones I knew. So after a while this became a ritual for the band.
"One time we went to Champaign, Illinois for a show. I went with my mother to soundcheck 'cause I was like 'I wanna see yall do that.' So she took me with her. After they were done I got up there like I always did and started playing the drums and they came back and jammed with me.
"The owner of the club walked in and he freaked out and said 'Who's the little dude on the drums!?' He made them put me in the show. He said, 'I gotta have him in the show. I'll pay you extra to have him in the show.'
"So, I was in the show. 'Play that Funky Music White Boy' by Wild Cherry - that was the song I played. I was six years old. From then I decided I wanted to do music."
Ricky Bradshaw's mother is the dance music diva Shawn Christopher. She was a back up singer for Chaka Khan and solidified her solo career with the 1991 Billboard hit, "Another Sleepless Night" on Arista Records. A year later in 1992 she dropped the #1 smash hit "Don't Loose the Magic" from her album Reaching For a Star. Over the years she has released a huge catalogue of both mainstream and underground burners. One of her more notable House Music recordings was Lil' Louis's mega hit "French Kiss".
